Archive for the 'rice' Category

i found this recipe for kosheri in the ottolenghi cookbook which is beyond words in its goodness. and i made some minor adjustments – eg. halving the amount of lentils for fear of what it would do to delicate, western, non-lentil lined insides. and before putting the vermicelli noodles in the butter with the rice i sweated one white onion because its not like you can go wrong. thats about all because its spectacular as it is, and as the smartest, tiredest person i know says “there comes a point when you just have to stop fucking around with it”…eloquent as ever.

ingredients

300g green lentils

200g basmati rice

40g unsalted butter

50g vermicelli noodles broken up

400ml chicken stock

pinch ground cinnamon

salt and pepper

4tbsp olive oil

3 white onions (2 finely sliced, 1 minced)

first run the lentils under cold water and drain. then put them in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. then reduce to a simmer for 25 minutes. drain again and set aside.

then in a saucepan melt the butter, add the onion and cook until softened. then add the vermicelli, stir and continue to fry until the vermicelli turns golden brown. add the rice and mix well until it is coated in the butter. then add the stock, cinnamon, salt and pepper. bring to boil, cover, then reduce heat and simmer for 12 mins. once finished cooking remove from the heat and cover with a tea towel and put lid back on for a few minutes…this makes for fluffiness.

finally heat olive oil in a pan, add onions and saute for about 20minutes until brown.

then assembly: add the lentils, and the onions to the rice. season if needed.

theres not many words for a thing like this. its best eaten. so i suppose the most appropriate description i can give, if youre into ambiguation and obfuscation, is: “ive never tasted anything like this before” – the fluffhead across the way.

my gastronomic equivalent of brecht’s work of epic theatre…and it has thrup p’s. this recipe is a mutation of a julia child recipe for the french equivalent of risotto. it works everytime and theres no stirring and then when you finally come to publishing it on your blog you will be able to have made reference to two of the greatest historical/cultural figures in but only the first sentence. tragically, i used mushrooms and so the thruppenny risotto should also have an ‘m’ somewhere in there. but for the sake of wit, cultural allusions, and an impossibly clever title, perhaps we shall leave that part out.

ingredients.

2 white onions

50g butter

1 1/2 cups rice

3 cups chicken stock

300g peas (frozen. always frozen)

2 handfuls of parmesan

2 handfuls of pine nuts

pre-heat oven to 175 degrees. in a saucepan melt half the butter and add the onions – cook them slowly until they are soft and translucent but not brown. then add peas (or mushrooms…not that any went into this ‘p’-centric dish). season well with salt and pepper. then add your uncooked rice and toss the grains until they are completely coated and become translucent. finally pour in your stock (which should be simmering in another pot). place all this in an oven proof dish (unless you lived a charmed existence and are privileged enough to have an oven proof dish which can go on the stove or just privileged enough to have had the forethought to think of such a thing before you began. put in the oven at cook for 18 minutes. when you remove the rice from the oven take the lid off and stir through and ensure all the liquid has been absorbed. it should be oozy consistency (what kind of a word is that even? much less an effective adjective.) then stir in a few knobs of butter and a couple of handfuls of parmesan. then put the lid back on, and defying every natural impulse you might have, walk away and let it rest for a minute or two.